The NIICHE Institute was established in response to the following background, namely:
Current Built Environment Higher Education is not adequately responsive to the needs and demands of the nation as expressed in the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) and its priority to improve the quality of education, skills development, and innovation
Our Aim
NIICHE Institute aims as a resource to, inter alia:
- Improve the quality and outcomes of built environment education through active and collaborative engagement with all stakeholders in the built environment higher education space
- Align with UN SDG 4 – which requires inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities
- Examine and review the way that necessary built environment is organized in terms of not just what is taught but how it is taught, how it is assessed and how feedback is provided
- Scrutinize pedagogic practices to determine their relevance, currency and appropriateness to deliver built environment education in a holistic way
- Promote relevant and transformative use of alternative innovative instructional strategies to better prepare built environment graduates for the world of work and professional practice which is increasingly technology-driven
Primary objective
Our Mission
To bring about a step change in the built environment curriculum landscape in South Africa by involving all stakeholders in the process as partners in sustainable built environment higher education for the future
Our Driving Factors
Our Key Drivers
- Built environment education in South Africa is not embracing the potential of inquiry-based learning to ensure its most desirable outcomes and improve the throughput of aspiring HDIs
- Approaches to and practices of assessment and evaluation do not adequately evaluate mastery of the needed professional built environment skillsets
- Learning approaches are not responsive to South African diversity and cultural contexts and backgrounds
- Instructional practices are focused on ‘learning by remembering’ instead of ‘learning by doing’
- Harnessing accrediting bodies and Councils as partners in efforts to improve the quality, relevance and outcomes of built environment education
- Profile of instructors mitigates against successful implementation of inquiry-based learning and desired student learning outcomes
PROJECT PLAN 2025+
Our Goals
We are on a journey to establish a paradigm shift in the current Built Environment curriculum landscape in South Africa. See our Project plan below.
